Today’s reading (Mark 10:17-22) looks at a rich man who came to Jesus wanting the answer to the question ‘What must I do to inherit eternal life?’ Once more, we see someone viewing a relationship with God on a transactional level and when Jesus challenges that view by asking him to give up his material possessions, he cannot bring himself to ‘cut loose all that binds him to earthly values in order to become truly free.’ (‘Sharing The Easter Story’, P 168)
On one level, this encounter shows us that we have to be prepared to let go of earthly ties, but one other aspect in Mark’s gospel shows us Jesus loving this man, even though he ultimately doesn’t reciprocate this love. Jesus looks at us and loves us too, even when we fail to be loving. ‘He looks into our hearts and sees our failures and our flaws, our efforts and our disasters, and he loves us.’ (‘Sharing The Easter Story’, P 169) That is tremendously encouraging and liberating news!
